I know having an organized house when you have little ones around is not an easy task. However, the more organized your home is, the easier your mornings (and your days) will flow.

These are some ideas that are relatively easy to implement and will make your morning routines smoother:

Set place in your house for backpacks. As soon as they come back from school, make sure they fully empty their backpacks. As soon as they’re done with their homework, make sure they put everything they need to bring to school the following day in their backpacks. As soon as backpacks are ready, they should be hanged or put away in their designated area. That way, in the morning you know backpacks are ready and the kids know where they are, instead of having to run around in the rush of the morning to get everything.

Set place for after school activities gear. This can be in the same area as you keep their backpacks or in a separate area. The goal though, is to keep it all organized and always in the same place.

Designated area for the kids’ coats and jackets. As soon as the kids come back from school or after school activities, makes sure they put away their outwear properly hanged in the designated area. This way, they know exactly where they need to go in the morning before leaving the house.

Designated area for kids’ shoes and boots. Make sure every time they take them off, they put them back in their place, so they always know where to find them.

Designated area for kid’s accessories, such as winter hats, gloves, scarfs… Just as with coats and shoes, make sure every time your kids use their accessories that they put them away in their designated place.

Designated area for brushes and hair accessories. I don’t know about your kids, but my daughters tend to leave their brushes, ribbons, hair pins… all around the house. It drives me crazy, because I don’t like having to run around the house in the morning trying to find a hair band. So, every night, I remind them to walk around and gather all their hair products and put them away in their designated drawers in the bathroom.

Command Center for the Family. Have a set place in your home where you display the family calendar, after school activities and other important notes for each day, so every family member can quickly check and know what’s coming that day. It’d be ideal if the backpack area was by the command area, to keep it all together and organized.

Organized Lunch Preparation Cabinet. Keep all the kids’ lunch gear (lunch boxes, bento boxes, lunch bags, utensils, thermos…) together and organized. This way, you don’t have to run around the kitchen trying to find what you need to get their lunches ready. When your kids come back from school, they can empty their lunch boxes by the sink, wipe them clean and put away on their own.

Organized Bathroom. Keep a bathroom caddy or basket for each child, where they can find their toothbrush, dental floss, and toothpaste. Have towels, hair accessories, creams, deodorant have a set place in their bathroom. Make sure your kids know that they need to put everything back in its place after using it.

Organized Refrigerator. Keep bins in your refrigerator to store ‘ready to go’ snacks, and to store already made lunches and drinks. This way, you don’t have to search for each individual thing in the morning, or what’s even best, your kids can pack their own lunch bags on their own because they know what everything is.